1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a device for supporting and retaining a tracheal cannula or similar appliance on a person's neck in connection with a tracheostoma, comprising two wings on the cannula projecting in opposite directions from the cannula, and fastening means connected with the wings.
2. Description of Prior Art
Persons who are tracheostomized or laryngectomized have gone through a surgical operation in which an opening, stoma, has been made in the person's neck in order to create a direct connection with trachea (windpipe). The cause for such an operation may be a physical injury against the neck at an accident, sleep apnea of overweight persons, lung disease, or removal of the larynx due to cancer therein (laryngectomy).
On all tracheostomized persons and many of the laryngectomized persons it is necessary to keep the stoma open by means of some sort of stent, usually a tracheal cannula e.g. as those disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,471,980 A, U.S. Pat. No. 4,331,144 A and DE 298 06 659 U1. As shown therein the cannula is a substantially right-angled tube open at both ends.
The tracheal cannula is exposed to axial forces, which particularly at coughing and speech tend to cause outward movement of the cannula in the stoma causing irritation of mucous membranes and leakage. In the worst case the cannula may move completely out of the stoma. In order that the cannula shall remain in position it is held by means of a neck strap which can be of different types varying from simple cotton straps which are connected with the cannula and are tied round the neck by a knot, to more advanced straps as those disclosed e.g. in U.S. Pat. No. 5,471,980 A and U.S. Pat. No. 4,331,144 A.
Referring to FIG. 1 on the accompanying drawings a tracheal cannula 10 is supported in the stoma by means of a simple strap 11 round the person's neck, the strap 11 being connected with diametrically opposite wings 12 on the cannula and being knotted round the neck at 13. The axis of the portion of the cannula which extends through the stoma is indicated by a dot-and-dash line 14, and the direction of the strap is indicated by a dot-and-dash line 15 the angle between lines 14 and 15 being designated φ.
Many persons find it annoying to have a strap round the neck. It causes sweating, the strap gets dirty, head movements are impeded, the strap lands on the wound directly after a laryngectomy etc. The most important drawback is, however, that there is an unfavourable angle φ between the strap and the cannula at low-positioned stomas as shown in FIG. 1 which causes an unsatisfactory fixation of the cannula. In extreme cases the cannula will not be kept in the intended position but will be withdrawn when the pulling force acts from above in the direction of line 15.
US 2001/0035182 A1 discloses an adapter which is partly inserted into a tracheostoma and has a spacer which is configured to abut the skini of the user proximate the tracheostoma when the adapter is in position during use. The spacer can include an adhesive formed thereon so that the adapter can be adhesively secured to and released from the skin in an annular region around the tracheostoma. However, the central positioning of an adhesive connection proximate the tracheostoma does not function in practice because the adhesive will deteriorate very rapidly when in contact with mucus secret and substantial humid secretion through the human tissues. Moreover, an adhesive connection cannot be used proximate the tracheostoma when the skin around the tracheostoma is very sensible particularly after surgery or radiation. Generally, it should be avoided to expose the skin proximate the tracheostoma to unnecessary strain. Many patients remove the tracheal cannula several times each day for cleaning. An adhesive connection proximate the tracheostoma under these circumstances would rapidly destroy the tissues around the tracheostoma.